


Between the Shadow and the Soul

by IntrovertedWriter



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Slight pinning, VERY delayed Secret Santa, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 10:43:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13409571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntrovertedWriter/pseuds/IntrovertedWriter
Summary: Sawamura Daichi was not one to celebrate Valentine's Day. Though he had nothing against those poor, naive souls who partook in it every year, he knew better. Like any other broke college student, he knew that inevitably, Valentine's Day was nothing but a corporate holiday that inevitably forced people to take inventory of the quality and volume of love in their lives. That was not to say that he was above taking advantage of all the couples discounts at the local café like he did every other year. A perfectly reasonable plan, if you asked him, except for two tiny details. He had no money. And no boyfriend.





	Between the Shadow and the Soul

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ryankellycc](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryankellycc/gifts).



> So, this is a tiny one-shot written for jellyryans for the haikyuuwriters Secret Santa exchange. Some of the specifications that they sent my way included fake relationships and mutual pining, and after reading through one of my favorite poems again, I just couldn't help myself. I think I deviated from those things but oh well. Also, there was a major delay and I can't apologize enough for that. Things happened. No excuse but...without further delay this is what I have managed. I hope you like it.

Sawamura Daichi was not one to celebrate Valentine's Day. Though he had nothing against those poor, naive souls who partook in it every year, he knew better. Like any other broke college student, he knew that inevitably, Valentine's Day was nothing but a corporate holiday that inevitably forced people to take inventory of the quality and volume of love in their lives.

At best, by the time Valentine's Day rolled around, you'd have a significant other to spend it with. But you'd also find yourself buying all sorts of crap. Chocolates, roses, jewelry, expensive dinners...they all stood for the one thing that you needed to buy on Valentine's Day. Your partner's affection. You had to buy anything and everything that would reassure them for yet another year that they mattered. And people gobbled it up, embraced this false sense of reassurance, the reassurance that they were something to another person and wore it proudly as if people could not lie. As if one year of bought affections could compensate for a hellish year.

Daichi had distanced himself from this senseless loop long ago. Valentine's Day was not his thing, although that was not to say that he was above taking advantage of all the couples discounts at the local cafés like he did every other year. This had always seemed like a perfectly reasonable plan, if you asked him, except for two tiny details. This year, he had no money. And no boyfriend.

This year, that seemed like a truth conveniently forgotten by Daichi until it couldn't be anymore. He had walked up to the counter confidently as if he wasn't a college student living on the last $5 of his monthly allowance. As if he wasn't just running the math in his head that the two cups that it would take to get him through the day would cost him $2.70 with the couple's discount and leave him with the rest for a pastry.

"What can I offer you today?" the barista at the counter asked him. He, of course, knew.

"Could I get the two cups of coffee with the couple's discount and a croissant, please?"

"Sure, that's no problem. Is your partner here, by any chance? We've had some issues lately with people exploiting the promotion, broke college students mostly, and though we're all for the holiday, we're still a business." He, of course, had also foreseen this. There was hope yet, however. There always seemed to be one person alone sitting in the corner of the café, he could just point them out. But, much to his dismay, the girl he had spotted out of the corner of his eye had disappeared, leaving him with nothing but couples, and unless he claimed to be in a polygamous relationship, then, he was pretty sure he was well and thoroughly fucked.

"Erm, they just dashed, I swear," he tried. But the barista just raised a dark eyebrow at him and nodded. She didn't believe a single word to come out of his mouth, and honestly, could he blame her? Not really. He sighed.

"You know, just charge it regularly, then."

"Sure, that'd be $5." He reached into his pocket for his wallet. But, no matter how many times his hand reached into it, it couldn't be found. He frantically palmed his back pockets. Nothing. Once again, he turned to look up at the barista's expectant stare with a sheepish look on his face. How could he explain he had lied and had no money?

"Tsk,tsk... Daichi, did you forget your wallet again? I thought you were buying the coffee today!"

He came out of nowhere. His knight in shining armor...Sugawara Koushi. He had to admit that despite being on the same college volleyball team, he didn't know him all that well. That hadn't stopped him from pining after, him, however. He didn't know what it was about him, was it his dark eyes that seemed to stare at the depths of himself he had yet to know? Was it the way he smiled, carelessly, as if came naturally to him? He didn't know. But unlike everything else, he didn't mind it not making any sense.

He didn’t mind that everything he stood for had flown out the window as soon as he walked in. It felt right, these feelings. They came as easily and rapidly as the smiles that would flourish on Suga’s face. If he was honest with himself, after pining for him after so long, all it had taken was a split second where possibility grinned upon him. Gave him hope that this could be more. 

If he was truthful, though, it probably hadn't taken a second. He probably had fallen for him long before this day. 

He loved Sugawara Koushi. He loved him without knowing without knowing how, or when, or from where. He loved him in the same careless manner Suga's smiles came and went. Loved him the way dark things ought to be loved, secretly, between the shadow and the soul. And he found out that just because of that, he didn't mind Valentine's Day this year. He didn't care that the same coffee deal he'd been eyeing that morning was the result of a corporate holiday. He wouldn't have minded giving him his second cup of coffee. If he'd had any money, that is.

"Sorry, miss. It seems like my boyfriend was careless as usual. If you don't mind, here's the $5." This, too, he said with a careless smile spreading across his features, as if the words came naturally, too. As if the life he'd hinted at was bound to come naturally, too. And so he hoped.

Next thing he knew, a cup of coffee and a bag where thrust into his hand, and he didn't know what to say. There was so much he wanted to say, yet the right words couldn't even begin to form in his mouth. And the first words out of his mouth...they didn't reflect how thankful he felt for this small gesture. Or the hope he'd been feeling rising in his chest. 

"I can't let you pay for this regardless of the cost," he said,"I know I can't pay you right now, but my monthly allowance should come in pretty soon and I'll make up for it." 

Suga stared at him intently, amaretto eyes focused on him. He gave slight nods as he said this, and when he was done, he grinned. 

"I know I might be kindhearted and all but I'm not giving you this for free." 

It was then that he saw it...this was not his usual sweet smile, but a teasing grin. One with a teasing edge at the smile of his lips. This was a new side of Suga he hadn't known before. But it was one that he cared to know. 

There was only them, as their heads tilted and their lips finally crashed together. It wasn't rough, tongues battling in their mouths. Instead, it was sweet. It was short and awkward, what could barely be described as a peck on the lips but it had happened.

They had happened. And there was no going back now. 

"Huh, I guess he really wasn't kidding," the voice of the barista was lost to them.


End file.
